Photo caption : From left: Chairman, United Nigeria Airlines, Prof. Obiora Okonkwo; Chairman, Senate Committee on Aviation, Senator Buhari Abdulfatai; Consul General of United Arab Emirates, Lagos, H.E. Mr. Sadem Alaberi; Representative of Lagos State Governor, Commissioner for Commerce Cooperative Trade and Investment, Mrs. Folashde Ambrose; Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr. Festus Kayamo; Director General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) Capt. Chris Najomo and Secretary General, African Civil Aviation Commission, Mrs. Adefunke Adeyemi, during the Nigerian Aircraft Acquisition and Investment Summit (NAAIS) 2026 held at Federal Palace Hotel, Lagos.
…Says Capital, Confidence, Capacity Are Three Pillars Upon Which Globally Competitive Aviation Industry Stands
The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo has stated that the forecast by Airbus and Boeing of the number of airplanes Africa will need are signals that the future of aviation growth is shifting toward emerging markets,which Nigeria must be a major beneficiaries
He said this while delivering a Keynote Address at the Nigeria Aircraft Acquisition and Investment Summit (NAAIS) today in Lagos
“Airbus’s Global Market Forecast 2024 projects Africa will need about 1,460 new aircraft between 2024 and 2043 to meet rising demand driven by urbanisation and a growing middle class.
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Boeing projects that Africa will require 1,205 new aircraft deliveries, with air traffic on the Continent growing at about 6% annually through 2024, and thus driving a demand for 76,000 additional aviation personnel.
“These are signals that the centre of gravity of future aviation growth is shifting toward emerging markets, and Nigeria, by scale, geography, population and economic relevance must be one of the principal beneficiaries,” he said.
The Minister informed that for decades, access to affordable and dependable aircraft financing has remained one of the most significant constraints for Nigerian operators.
This, he said has limited fleet renewal, constrained route development, weakened competitiveness, and increased operating costs.
Keyamo pointed out that this is precisely why this administration has treated aircraft financing not as a private challenge for airlines alone, but as a national challenge.
He said that under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu, Nigeria has taken deliberate steps to de-risk aviation investment in Nigeria, adding that the most consequential of these has been the strengthening of Nigeria’s implementation of the Cape Town Convention and Aircraft Protocol.
"Specifically, on September 12, 2024, Nigeria issued the Federal High Court Cape Town Convention & Aircraft Protocol Practice Direction, 2024 to fully implement this very important treaty on aircraft leasing, thereby enhancing investor confidence in the nation’s aviation sector. And on October 16, 2024, Nigeria went a step further by officially issuing the Irrevocable De-Registration and Export Request Authorisation (IDERA) Advisory Circular, intended to improve deregistration and export-remedy procedures, thus strengthening the legal framework for aircraft leasing and empowering local airlines to be able to access dry-lease aircraft. It is also aimed at reducing leasing cost and improving global safety ratings.These reforms matter because capital does not simply chase opportunity; it chases bankable certainty. And, Nigeria has worked to restore that certainty,” he said.
He stated that beyond legal reforms, Nigeria has made measurable progress on the long-standing issue of trapped airline funds.
To buttress his point, the Minister said that IATA has reported that Nigeria had cleared 98 per cent of previously blocked airline funds by mid-2024, and later cited Nigeria as a clear example of how backlog resolution can be successfully achieved through constructive engagement and phased repatriation, adding that that action sent an important message to global airlines, financiers, and investors that Nigeria understands that liquidity, convertibility, and that repatriation are not side issues; they are foundational to market confidence.
“Tthese are some of the ways by which we are unlocking capital: by aligning law, regulation, financial credibility and investor protection. It is also why this Summit is timely.
“At this point, we must now move from reforming the framework to structuring the instruments, leases, guarantees, insurance-backed structures, export-credit support, local banking participation, and development-finance partnerships that can translate legal progress into actual fleet growth,”Keyamo said.
Keyamo noted that capital flows where confidence exists, and confidence grows where institutions are credible, rules are predictable, and reforms are sustained.
He stressed that is the reason why Nigeria has continued to deepen regulatory and institutional reforms across the aviation ecosystem.
He stated that Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations 2023 (Nig. CARs 2023) updated the vountry’s regulatory framework in line with contemporary ICAO requirements across operations, safety management, airworthiness, aerodrome standards and economic oversight.
He argued that confidence also grows when a market shows seriousness about capability-building, adding that under this administration, Nigeria has recorded important progress in this direction.
He said that Boeing and Cranfield University have provided training support for domestic airlines to strengthen safety culture and operational excellence in Nigeria and that in addition, the Ministry has supported the ground-breaking of major local MRO investments, including the Air Peace MRO facility in Lagos and the XEJET $10 million MRO facility in Abuja.
These, the Minister said are done with a clear strategic objectives: reduce foreign maintenance dependence, cut aircraft downtime, retain value in-country and create skilled Nigerian jobs.
The scale of Nigeria’s aviation opportunity, he said is perhaps best illustrated by what is now happening in Lagos, where roughly half a billion dollars invested by the Nigerian government in the modernisation of Lagos international airport infrastructure.
He said with this, Nigeria is making a clear statement that the gateway serving one of Africa’s most important aviation markets must match the scale of its responsibility.
On passenger traffic, Keyamo said, “IATA data shows that Nigeria recorded 2.1 million international passenger departures in 2023, maintains direct links to 38 countries, supports 24 airports with scheduled commercial services, and has seen 17 new international routes added within the last five years. These are not ordinary statistics; they reflect market weight, connectivity relevance, and strategic importance within the African aviation landscape when viewed with the lens of Nigeria’s approximately 240 million population size.
The Minister told the gathering that the reason for the summit is not only to discuss aircraft acquisition as a transactional issue, but to unlock something far more strategic and far more consequential such as capital, confidence, and capacity, the three pillars upon which any globally competitive aviation industry must stand.
Nigeria, he said comes before the world not with an aspiration alone, but with evidence of reforms and evidence of readiness, adding that across the global industry, the fundamentals remain compelling.
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